1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a telecommunications network and in particular to a method and system for routing of calls within the telecommunications network. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for routing of calls within a telecommunications network via the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent advances in technology have resulted in unprecedented growth and diversification in the field of telecommunications. Telecommunications systems long utilized for transmitting voice signals between telephones are now being implemented in a wide variety of other applications. Such applications include, for example, the transfer of information between Local Area Networks (LANs) and the transmission of documents via facsimile. The wide variety of available telecommunications applications has resulted in a marked increase in the utilization of telecommunications systems.
Telecommunications system utilization has also increased as a result of the greater number of telephone devices now available. With the advent of devices such as portable and cellular telephones, more people spend a greater amount of time in telephonic communication than in the past.
These factors have contributed to a general increase in the utilization of telecommunications systems and, in particular, to an increase in the utilization of telecommunications systems for sending long distance and international transmissions. The dramatic social and economic changes which the world has undergone in the past several years have also resulted in the increased utilization of long distance and international telecommunications systems. The current socioeconomic climate of the world suggests that the number of long distance and international transmissions will continue to grow at an increased rate.
The development of computerized information resources, such as the xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d and the proliferation of xe2x80x9cWebxe2x80x9d browsers allow users of data-processing systems to link with other servers and networks, and thus retrieve vast amounts of electronic information heretofore unavailable in an electronic medium. Such electronic information is increasingly displacing more conventional means of information transmission, such as newspapers, magazines, and even television. In Internet Protocol (IP) telecommunications, a set of computer networks which are possibly dissimilar from one another are joined together by xe2x80x9cgatewaysxe2x80x9d that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from the sending network to the protocols utilized by the receiving network, with packets if necessary. A gateway is a device utilized to connect dissimilar networks (i.e., networks utilizing different communication protocols) so that electronic information can be passed from one network to the other. Gateways transfer electronic information converting such information to a form compatible with the protocols utilized by the second network for transport and delivery. The term xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d is an abbreviation for xe2x80x9cinternetwork,xe2x80x9d and refers commonly to the collection of networks and gateways that utilize the TCP/IP suite of protocols, which are well-known in the art of computer networking. TCP/IP is an acronym for xe2x80x9cTransport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol,xe2x80x9d a set of software protocol developed by the U.S. Department of Defense for communication between computers.
A quickly developing utilization of the Internet is for the transmission of real-time services such as voice (VoIP) and fax (FoIP). The H.323 [H.323 v2] standard has been proposed to do call control (i.e., make connections) of real-time service on IP networks. This allows end-points or terminals wanting to make connections to negotiate bandwidth and coding requirements before the connection is established. In this standard there are three key players collectively known as nodes:
End-point: These are terminals which need to make connections. They request the connect through a gatekeeper (if one is on the network) and they also negotiate the connection parameters;
Gatekeeper: These entities do bandwidth control (on LANs) and routing of connection packets towards the destination terminal;
Gateway: This entity can be thought of as a collection of end-points, but these entities also translate from other bearer protocols (such as TDM) to the IP protocol.
The market for Internet access and related applications is explosive and is growing faster than expected, doubling in size approximately every three months. IP networks are technology driving the Internet. Most PCs now utilize TCP/IP as their networking protocol. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is utilized within TCP/IP to convert data messages generated into packets to be sent via IP. However, UDP does not verify that messages have been delivered correctly.
The kinds of traffic running over IP networks is of two major types:
Elastic traffic or non-real-traffic which is primarily data file transfer. Most of this traffic utilizes TCP as its transport level protocol and it can withstand delay quite well, but any corruption of data must be re-transmitted; and
The inelastic or real-time traffic is interactive voice, video or data-conferencing. This kind of traffic does not withstand delay well since late information in an inter-active session is of no use. This kind of traffic utilizes real time protocol (RTP) over UDP as the transport protocol.
There are some benefits and some negatives to routing real-time traffic over an IP network. IP networks provide free routing from source to destination. Traffic routed via an IP network is thus relatively inexpensive in comparison to a carrier circuit network. There is, however, loss in the quality of service over the IP network due to delay variance or jitter at the destination. Additionally, switching traffic via routers on the IP network can introduce delay for real-time services. Users must therefore balance between cost and quality. Often, lower cost determines the users choice since routing via carrier circuit networks is rather expensive. However, customers also like the flexibility and convenience of being able to select the carrier network if the signal quality is unacceptable. This determination is usually made after the call has been routed via the IP network.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved IP telecommunications system that permits users to select routing of signals via the Internet to reduce user cost. Additionally, it would be advantageous to permit users to balance the cost with the quality of service and provide a method for switching from the carrier network to the Internet and vice-versa without having to first terminate the call from one network and later re-establish it with the other network.
It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for a telecommunications network.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for routing of calls within the telecommunications network.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for routing of calls within a telecommunications network via the Internet.
The above features are achieved as follows. A method is disclosed for a user of telecommunication services to dynamically interchange routing paths between a carrier network circuit and the Internet for connecting to a destination. A user code is allocated which marks a connection request as requesting routing via an IP network. The carrier switch is modified to detect the user code when it is entered. A call is routed through the IP network when the carrier switch detects this user code.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method utilizes modified carrier switches which permit the routing via the Internet upon user request. The carrier switches connect to the Internet via gateways of the IP network. Once a call has been routed through the Internet, the user may decide to switch back to the carrier network circuits if the quality of the Internet connection is unsatisfactory. This switching occurs contemporaneously so that call connection is maintained.
The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.